The population shift of recent years toward the hot and arid regions of the southwest has produced a growing interest in swimming pools and a rapid expansion of the swimming pool industry.
In this part of the country where it is too hot during a greater part of the year for most active sports, the family or neighborhood swimming pool offers a welcome relief from the oppressive summer heat as well as a means for the practice of one of the best known forms of health and body building exercise. Moreover, in this land of retirement communities, swimming and related forms of hydrotherapy are becoming increasingly popular as an effective form of treatment for arthritus and other ailments common among the aged.
Along with the increased popularity of swimming pools there has been an attendant growth in the associated technologies with a growing list of equipment being added to the typical installation for the enhancement of the operating features and for the reduction of maintenance care. Such added equipment includes automatic cleaning and chlorinating appliances, aerators, heaters and, more recently, the pumps and special fixtures associated with hydrotherapy.
In order that the benefits offered by the swimming pool may be realized and enjoyed by a greater percentage of the population, there is a need to reduce the complexity of this equipment while retaining the worthwhile features it provides. More specifically there is a need to reduce the total number of separate motors and other appliances presently employed to provide the desired features.